The following abbreviations are herewith defined, at least some of which are referred to within the following description.
Third Generation Partnership Project (“3GPP”), Access and Mobility Management Function (“AMF”), Access Point Name (“APN”), Access Point (“AP”), Access Stratum (“AS”), Carrier Aggregation (“CA”), Clear Channel Assessment (“CCA”), Control Channel Element (“CCE”), Control Plane (“CP”), Channel State Information (“CSI”), Call Session Control Function (“CSCF”), Common Search Space (“CSS”), Data Network Name (“DNN”), Data Radio Bearer (“DRB”), Downlink Control Information (“DCI”), Downlink (“DL”), Enhanced Clear Channel Assessment (“eCCA”), Enhanced Mobile Broadband (“eMBB”), Evolved Node-B (“eNB”), Evolved Packet Core (“EPC”), Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (“E-UTRAN”), European Telecommunications Standards Institute (“ETSI”), Frame Based Equipment (“FBE”), Frequency Division Duplex (“FDD”), Frequency Division Multiple Access (“FDMA”), Globally Unique Temporary UE Identity (“GUTI”), Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (“HARQ”), Home Subscriber Server (“HSS”), Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (“IMS”), IMS Application Reference Identifier (“IARI”), IMS Communication Service Identifier (“ICSI”), Internet Protocol (“IP”), Internet-of-Things (“IoT”), Key Performance Indicators (“KPI”), Licensed Assisted Access (“LAA”), Load Based Equipment (“LBE”), Listen-Before-Talk (“LBT”), Long Term Evolution (“LTE”), LTE Advanced (“LTE-A”), Medium Access Control (“MAC”), Multiple Access (“MA”), Mobile Broadband (“MBB”), Modulation Coding Scheme (“MCS”), Machine Type Communication (“MTC”), Massive MTC (“mMTC”), Massive Internet-of-Things (“mIoT”), Mobility Management (“MM”), Mobility Management Entity (“MME”), Multiple Input Multiple Output (“MIMO”), Multipath TCP (“MPTCP”), Multi User Shared Access (“MUSA”), Non-Access Stratum (“NAS”), Narrowband (“NB”), Network Function (“NF”), Network Slice Selection Function (“NSSF”), Network Slice Selection Policy (“NSSP”), Next Generation (e.g., 5G) Node-B (“gNB”), Next Generation Radio Access Network (“NG-RAN”), New Radio (“NR”), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (“OFDM”), Policy Control & Charging (“PCC”), Policy Control Function (“PCF”), Policy Control and Charging Rules Function (“PCRF”), Packet Data Network (“PDN”), Protocol Data Unit (“PDU”), PDN Gateway (“PGW”), Public Land Mobile Network (“PLMN”), Quality of Service (“QoS”), Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (“QPSK”), Radio Access Network (“RAN”), Radio Access Technology (“RAT”), Radio Resource Control (“RRC”), Receive (“RX”), Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (“SC-FDMA”), Switching/Splitting Function (“SSF”), Scheduling Request (“SR”), Serving Gateway (“SGW”), Session Management Function (“SMF”), System Information Block (“SIB”), Transport Block (“TB”), Transport Block Size (“TBS”), Time-Division Duplex (“TDD”), Time Division Multiplex (“TDM”), Transmission and Reception Point (“TRP”), Transmit (“TX”), Uplink Control Information (“UCI”), Unified Data Management (“UDM”), User Data Repository (“UDR”), User Entity/Equipment (e.g., Mobile Terminal) (“UE”), Uniform Resource Name (“URN”), Uplink (“UL”), User Plane (“UP”), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (“UMTS”), Ultra-reliability and Low-latency Communications (“URLLC”), and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (“WiMAX”).
In wireless communications networks, next generation of wireless networks (e.g., fifth-generation or “5G” networks) are expected to support different network slices. Each network slice can be seen as an independent network partition optimized to support the performance requirements of a certain usage class. For example, a wireless communication network may contain a network slice optimized for mobile broadband services (characterized by high data rate and medium latency), a network slice optimized for autonomous driving (characterized by low latency and high reliability), a network slice optimized for Internet of Things (“IoT”) or Machine Type Communications (“MTC”) (characterized by low mobility and low data rate), and the like.
Generally, the same public land mobile network (“PLMN”) deploys one or more network slices. A network slice may be deployed multiple times within a PLMN, resulting in multiple instances of the same network slice. It is expected that the same mobile device (e.g., User Equipment (“UE”)) may simultaneously connect with multiple network slices. For example, a UE may be connected to a network slice optimized for massive IoT in order to provide connectivity to its IoT applications. Simultaneously, the same UE may be connected to another network slice optimized for mobile broadband communication in order to provide connectivity to its IMS and/or web browsing applications.
However, mobility management (“MM”) signaling increases when the UE is simultaneously connected to multiple network slices. For example, when a UE is in idle mode and moves to new routing area (also referred to as a “tracking area,” “registration area,” or “paging area”), the UE needs to update its current location with all of the connected network slices. Conventional mobile communication networks would require the UE to perform multiple routing area updates, one towards each connected network slice. Performing multiple MM procedures results in increased MM signaling between the UE and the network and decreases the battery life in the UE.